The Big Four
by TransientFireworks
Summary: It was hard enough for Jack to believe that The Man in the Moon had chosen him to be a Guardian, now he finds out that he has a team. Not just any team. No, he gets a tiny-Viking, a girl with abnormally long-hair who's never been outside her tower, and a hot-headed princess who'd rather die than take orders from anyone. Yeah, definitely not something Jack wanted to sign up for.
1. Chapter 1: The New Guardian

**After all the planning and coming up with ideas, here it finally is! I've worked really hard on this chapter, believe it or not. Now, I'll warn you, this chapter will be close to the movie, but that will be the only one. The next chapter will be really different from how the other movies are. **

**The setting and time period was really hard to come up with. So basically, I'm going to combine them all. Like, there will be some things from Rapunzel's time period, modern time-period (not techonology, more like instruments, tradition and animals), but most will be Hiccup and Merida's time-period because they are basically set in the same time. Confusing, I know, but I hope you guys understand. **

**Jack's clothing will be the same, despite the story not being set during modern times because, come on, who can get rid of that cute blue hoddie, lol. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Rise of the Guardians, Tangled, Brave or How to Train Your Dragon.**

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_"It's all about believing. Believing in each other, in ourselves - in everyone. There's always something special hidden in everyone out there. You got to be patient, forgiving and loving. And someday, after many hardships and failures - you will find out what's special with someone. Always."_

-Unknown

**CHAPTER 1: The New Guardian**

Jack always knew his mischievous side would get him into trouble one day. With regular people? No, of course not, they can't see him after all. With the Guardians? That...was a different story. What kind of trouble was he thinking of? Nothing too serious; a blizzard here, some snowball fights there. Certainly nothing so bad that he deserved to be grabbed and stuffed into a giant red bag by a couple of Yetis.

Which was basically the situation he suddenly found himself in at the moment.

Jack had no time to grasp it though, as he suddenly lurched forward, feeling the hard ground hit. He grunted and immediately caught sight of two elves peaking through the small entrance of the bag.

"Whoa, personal space, would ya?" he said, using this chance to jump out. What was awaiting him on the other side though was a face he had not been expecting to see so..._excited_.

"Hey! There he is!" North's voice boomed in his thick Russian-accent. By his side stood, or should Jack say, floated Toothiana; aka: the Tooth Fairy. "Jack Frost!"

He stared at the two in slight amazement, wondering what the famous Guardians would possibly want with him. After all, most of them were usually cooped up either preparing for their own holiday or working all year round like the Tooth Fairy and Sandman. Did they want something from him? Or did he do something bad? The latter seemed like a more realistic reason in his opinion. He opened his mouth to ask when the two Yetis, that had previously kidnapped him, seized his shoulders and forcefully pulled him into a standing position, despite his protests.

"Did the Yetis treat you well?"

Jack tucked his arms on top of his staff and rested his chin on it. "Oh, yea. I love being shoved into a sack and tossed through a magic portal."

North grinned and nodded while Tooth, who seemed to understand the concept of sarcasm, cringed. "Sorry about that," she apologized before flying over to his side at a speed Jack couldn't keep up with. Her bright violet eyes seemed to consume his entire vision as she went up to his face.

"What're you-?" Jack was cut off when she suddenly seized his mouth and began probing his teeth.

"It's great to meet you!" she gushed, pulling his bottom lip back to get a better look. "I've heard so much about your teeth! Oh, they really do sparkle like freshly fallen snow!" This went on for a few seconds before Bunnymund intervened and pulled her back, rolling his eyes.

"Well you know Tooth now," he grunted in his Australian-accent with narrowed eyes, "and me, unfortunately. Right there is North and the sleeping cobber next to him is the Sandman. His mates call him Sandy though."

"Uh huh," Jack nodded before turning his back to Bunnymund in order to face North. Bunnymund glared daggers at the boys back and Jack tried not to smirk; he always did enjoy messing with the giant Kangaroo. "Not that I'm not flattered the Guardians wanted to meet me but, can one of you explain to me what I'm doing here?"

Sandman flailed his arms in the air for attention and Jack crouched down to get at eye-level. A golden-image that looked like a figurine made of sand suddenly appeared atop his head, then another, and another until a bunch of figures went flying by, each disappearing after only a second. It took a moment but Jack realized Sandy was giving him a visual of what they wanted.

He stood upright and scratched his head awkwardly. "That doesn't really help, but thanks for trying. I must have done something pretty bad though to get you four together." His face suddenly brightened up with mischievous glee. "Am I on the naughty list?"

"Ha!" North laughed, causing Jack to flinch, wondering how to other three got used to his loud voice. "On the naughty list? You hold record. But, we overlook. Now, we are wiping slate clean." North demonstrated his words by swiping his hand across the forearm that held a tattoo of the word 'naughty' on it. Now Jack was definitely confused.

He raised an eyebrow. "How come?"

"Good question," Bunnymund mumbled in disdain.

"How come?" North repeated. "I tell you how come!"

Jack flinched again. "Great but seriously, can we keep the volume to a minimum?"

North didn't seem to hear him as he raised his arms in the air and two Yetis suddenly appeared by his side with high torches blaring a bright fire. "Congratulations! You are now Guardian!"

All of a sudden, music blasted throughout the room as many elves came strutting in with silver horns. Two of Tooth's tiny fairies flew up, carrying a color necklace of what looked to be designs of snowflakes and Jack jumped back as they neared him. North cheered and even more elves walked in, twirling and throwing batons into the air. Even confetti began to rain from the ceiling. How? Jack did not know. He tried to back up but was met with the fury chest of a Yeti. Wow, did those things irritate him today.

Before he could protest any of what was going on, Jack saw a Yeti handing North a rather large book. Jack shook his head, which was a bad idea seeing as the music was giving him a headache. _Alright, I've had enough of this_, he thought before raising his staff in the air.

He sucked in a breath...and struck it down.

A breeze charged from where his staff connected with the ground, blowing out the torches and even managing to slam the book into North's face. Ice materialized into a pattern on the ground around them and everyone stared at Jack in amazement, but he was preoccupied with another thought at the moment to notice.

"What makes you think I want to be a Guardian?" he called out, not caring who answered.

They stood in shock and an awkward silence hung in the air. Well, for about three seconds at least before North roared in laughter. Jack couldn't believe it. The old man thought he was kidding!

North ceased and said, "Of course you do. Music!"

The elves got ready to play once again but Jack cried out to them. "No music!" They stopped and one elf grew frustrated and threw his horn to the ground in protest before stomping away. Jack raised an eyebrow at it before continuing. "Again, this is all very flattering but...I don't want to be a Guardian. I mean, work all year round with no fun and nothing but deadlines, no thanks."

Tooth flew up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Jack, I don't think you understand what it is we do." She grabbed his elbow and directed him to the immense replica of the Earth that floated proudly in the center of the room. Tooth gestured to the thousands of tiny golden dots that shined on random spots of it. "Each one of those lights is a child. A child who believes."

"And good or bad," North continued, "naughty or nice, we protect them."

Jack didn't respond and only waited for a further explanation.

"Alright, that's it!" Bunnymund spoke up, stalking over to the white-haired boy. "No, more wishy-washy. Listen up you knocker, Pitch is out there doing who knows what and when Pitch threatens us," he pointed to the lights, "he threatens them."

"Pitch? You mean the Boogeyman?" Jack laughed and shook his head. "All the more reason to pick someone more qualified, I say."

North chuckled. "Pick? You think we pick? No! You were chosen! Like we were all chosen. By Man in Moon."

Jack's head snapped up, seeing North gesturing towards the moon that shone through the skylight. Did he hear the big guy right? "Man in Moon...he talks to you?"

"Yes," Tooth answered, "and last night he chose you. Well...you and three others."

Jack had been in immense thought about the Man in Moon but still managed to catch onto Tooth's words. "Excuse me?" he asked.

"Tooth!" Bunnymund groaned. "We're havin' a hard enough time convincing him to be a Guardian, now we gotta tell him he has a team!"

"Well, I think the best thing to do is explain it all at once," she quickly defended herself. "Rip the bandage right out, as they say."

Jack was ready to deliver another blow with his staff but thought better of it and resorted to shouting, "Hey!" Tooth and Bunnymund paused from their disagreement and turned to him. "What. Are. You. Talking. About?"

"No need to get your trousers in a knot mate," Bunnymund replied. "It's simple. The Man in Moon said last night that you're a new Guardian. But, this morning he showed us three more; your team."

"Wait, so I have a team now?" he laughed without humor, shaking his head. "What's our team name? The Fearsome Foursome?"

"Oh, nice sarcasm! Did you come up with that all on your own?"

Jack ignored him and faced the direction of the moon. He still couldn't believe it. After thirteen years of silence and unanswered questions, he just threw Jack into the Guardians? This was his big plan? This is what he brought him back to life for? This is what he erased his memories for?

"Why wouldn't he talk to me himself, huh?" Jack asked through clenched teeth. "Never a _single_ word from the guy and suddenly he wants me to join the Guardians? He wants me to spend eternity like you guys, cooped up in some hideout with three strangers thinking of new ways to bribe kids?"

"Jack, please, this life is not what you think it is," Tooth tried, but was ignored.

"No, that's not the life for me." Jack sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Look at the bright side though, you've got three other 'chosen' ones who'll probably jump at this chance."

"I agree," Bunnymund said. Tooth was prepared to lecture him but he cut her off as soon as she opened her mouth. "No, seriously. Why are we putting up with this clown? Let's just go find the other three and be done with him. I mean, really, what's he know about bringing joy to children?"

Though angered by his words, Jack forced a smirk, rather than a scowl, on his face. "Uh, ever hear of snowball fights and sledding? I know it's no hard-boiled egg, but kid's like what I do."

He expected an angered, maybe furious, reply, but was shocked by Bunnymund's next words. "But none of them believe in you, do they? You see, you're still new around here. The kids don't even know it's you who's making the snow. You're invisible, mate and you got nobody."

Jack averted his gaze to the ground, trying hard to keep his composure. Tooth saw this and intervened.

"Bunny! That's enough."

"No, the kangaroo's right," Jack replied, glancing at Bunnymund to see his reaction.

"What? What'd you call me?"

_Bingo._

He grinned. "You heard me."

"I'm not a kangaroo, mate." Bunnymund spoke with a dark undertone and brought his face closer to Jack's in a threatening manner. "I'm a bunny; the Easter Bunny. People _believe_ in me. I have a_ team_ to support and fight with me. Can't say the same for you, can we?"

They stood glaring at one another, the air tense around them. Jack felt something at his feet and broke his gaze to look down. Sandman had gone between the two and stretched his arms out, creating a space. Bunnymund's eyes lingered on Jack's for a second longer before he 'tsked' and walked away. Tooth seemed to be going through some inner battle with herself on who to speak with before groaning and following after Bunnymund. Loyalty, Jack assumed.

North though, had gone straight for him with the most serious expression he's ever seen on the guy. He might be Santa Claus, but he was not a jolly man at the moment. "Jack, walk with me."

It was not a suggestion.

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Apparently, the 'walk' North was talking about only made it as far as his office.

It was a slightly darkened with only various candles placed in random spots for light. Shelves stacked with different kinds of toys lined the walls and a desk stood by the windows, ice-sculptures of what looked to be more toys sat atop of it. "Designs," North explained, seeing where his gaze rested. "New toys I've been coming up with."

"It's amazing," Jack replied with genuine wonder.

North nodded before sighing. "Jack, I sensed some tension between you and Man in Moon."

"Tension, what tension?" Unlike before, North completely heard the sarcasm in the boys tone. "I mean, he brought me back to life without telling me a single thing about why or who I was before death. _Tension? _Why on earth would there be tension between the two of us?" Jack's hand clenched tighter onto his staff and he shut his eyes, not liking the look North was giving him.

"I'm not exactly on good terms with the guy," he continued, a silent anger hidden beneath his words. "So yeah, I guess there is some tension."

"What is troubling you?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Jack sighed.

North nodded. "Don't worry Jack, Man in Moon does not do anything without purpose. If he choose you, you must have a special center that the world needs."

"Center?"

North walked over to one of the shelves. He reached out with his beefy hand and grasped a doll. It wasn't until the guy handed it to Jack that he saw it was a Matryoshka Doll of North himself. "What do you see?"

"Uh, you."

"Good, now go to the next layer." Jack did so and another small version of North popped up. He had no idea where this was headed but decided to humor the guy. "What do you see now?"

"I don't know, you but with a happy expression."

"Keep going."

Jack began pulling out the next layer and the one after that and the last one after that. "You, angry. You, hiding? You...crying?"

"Me, mysterious and caring!" North clarified excitedly. "And the last one?" Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Jack pulled out the final layer of the doll and found a tiny wooden baby. This time he did roll his eyes. "What do you see?" North asked.

"A baby, I'll assume it's you."

"Look closer..."

Jack began to grow impatient. "I don't know...you have big eyes?"

Apparently that was the correct answer as North's face beamed and his grin seemed to stretch across his entire face. "Yes! Big eyes full of wonder!" He ran to the center of his office and spread out his arms. "Eyes that see the lights in the trees and the magic in the air! This _wonder_ is what I put into the world and what I protect in children. It was what I was destined to do and what is my _center_ as a Guardian."

Jack glanced down at the tiny doll in his hand. "Your center, huh?"

"Yes, that is mine. What is yours, Jack Frost? What is special about you? What makes you chosen to be a Guardian?"

He signed. "I wish I knew."

"Well then, find out!" North crossed over to his desk and pulled out three pieces of paper and gestured over for Jack to see. He went up and saw three pictures.

The first was boy with medium length dark-auburn hair that looked to have never been brushed and green eyes. He wasn't short, but muscular or fit are two words Jack would definitely not use to describe him. His nose was round and there was a gap in his teeth, giving the illusion of a little kid.

_This is one of my teammates? Nice choice, Man in Moon._

Next to that picture was a girl, or at least Jack assumed it was a girl seeing as her hair took up most of the page. She had long, wild and curly, red hair that reminded him of wildfire. Her face was small with blue eyes and a slightly pale skin tone. Not as pale as Jack though that's for sure.

The last picture was another girl and her image caused Jack to gap. Her hair also took up most of the page, but instead of it being large and curly, it was long; _really_ long. It coiled around the girl's feet in blonde strands. Her eyes were green and large and Jack instantly thought of puppy's when looking at them.

_She's cute, but what's with these girls and having crazy hair? Was it in style nowadays?_

"So you don't want to be a Guardian, maybe you'll have a change of heart. But either way, you need to retrieve the other three," North explained.

"Why me?"

"It's just the way it was meant to be. It is why Man in Moon showed you to us first. Happened to me too, if you must know."

"You mean, you went and got everybody together?"

"That is right. I went and gathered my team of Guardians. Now it's your turn, please." Jack cringed back as North's tone grew a slight pleading tone. Seeing a guy as big as him resort to begging was not something people see everyday. "Even if you and Man in Moon have bad blood, at least go get them." He handed the pictures to Jack, who took them with hesitation. "Who knows? Maybe they'll help you find the answers you're searching for."

Jack didn't respond and thought about it. Slowly, he was sort of accepting the whole "being a Guardian" thing. After all, what other reason could Man in Moon have brought him back for? But being a part of a team? That was what still alluded him. He tried to hand back the wooden baby-doll but North shook his head.

"Keep it," he said. Not knowing why, Jack stuffed it into his pocket and stared at the pictures once again. North looked at him with hopeful eyes.

Jack shook his head, blowing out a deep breath. "I guess, what's the harm in just meeting these guys, right?"

"That is my boy!"

"That wasn't a _yes_ to the Guardian position though," he quickly added.

"Still better than nothing," North shrugged and Jack couldn't help but laugh at that. "The locations of each are at the bottom of the page, as well as their names."

Jack leaned against the desk with the palm of his hand. "Quick question; how am supposed to talk to them when no one besides you guys can see me?"

"Oh, don't worry, they can all see you."

Jack's breath hitched and his hand slipped, causing him to fall. But he quickly caught himself and stared wide-eyed. "R-Really?" he managed to choke out.

North nodded. "It is true, Guardians are all able to see other Guardians and, even though none of you are full Guardians yet, they can all still see you."

"Can other people see them?" he asked, still not getting over the fact that someone other than North, Bunnymund, Sandman and Tooth can see him. After thirteen years, he's going to be seen! By people his age, no less! "You know, since they're Guardians and all?"

"I repeat; you four are not _full _Guardians yet. People can still see them and their full potential will not awaken until they each find their center; don't worry though, that will all be explained once you've all gathered."

"What about me? People can't see me, so am I a full Guardian?"

"No, your full powers haven't even been discovered yet, Jack. But you're close, you just need to take the first step down your path."

"And...finding these three is my first step?"

"If Man in Moon says so, then yes."

Jack shook his head. "You have a lot of faith in a guy you've never met."

North chuckled and stood up, walking over to Jack and placing a hand on his shoulder. "Sometimes the easiest things to believe in are the ones we can not see. How do you think we've survived this long?"

"So your center is delivering toys _and _giving cheesy saying?" Jack said with a smirk. "Nice package."

"Joke now, but once you find _your _center, you'll be grateful to Man in Moon."

_I sure hope so_, he thought, not wanting to say that out loud. Once words were spoken outside of your head, they become more real somehow and Jack didn't want to have that kind of hope.

"So," he cleared his throat, "who's the first victim?"

North ignored his jab and winked. "What do you think?"

Confused, Jack glanced at the pictures and spoke out the name before even realizing his lips were moving. "Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III. Okay, now that's creepy."

"No," North shook his head and looked back over his shoulder to the moon, "it is destiny."

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**So...what'd you think? I really hope it wasn't_ too_ close to the movie. As you can see though, Jack has only been the spirit of winter for thirteen years in my story, not 300 like in the movie.**

**I am currently half-way done with the next chapter; which will introduce the adorable Hiccup. I wanted to upload this chapter when I was done with the next chapter, but decided that I wanted to hear people's opinion on the story so far before I put up the second chapter. **

**If you guys go to my profile, you will see my tumblr link. My tumblr page has a section marked, "rotbtd" and it is a page full of gifs-set I've made. These gifs are previews of scenes for this fanfic so I hope you guys check it out. **

**Thank you and your Reviews are appreciated! :)**


	2. Chapter 2: Recruitment Part I

**I really liked the beginning of this chapter, but towards the end I really didn't know what to do. There was much I wanted to put but halfway through this chapter I realized, I can't fit all I want in just one chapter, so I decided to divide it into two parts.**

** Merida and Rapunzel's chapters will maybe be the same way because, let's face it, being told you're a Guardian of Childhood by a pale-boy is not an easy thing to swallow.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Rise of the Guardians, Tangled, Brave or How to Train Your Dragon.**

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**CHAPTER 2: Recruitment Part I**

The Isle of Berk is a generally small island, west of Scotland and home to many vikings.

The winters are long and harsh and food is scarce. It is for that reason alone, that the people of Berk have resorted to theft and pillage in order to survive. Nothing drastic though; the worst case scenario are injured civilians. After all, Stoick the Vast would not want to give the other villages of Scotland any reason for a war; he isn't called "vast" for nothing. Courageous and tactical, Stoick was named chieftain of Berk following the passing of his father. It was a family legacy he was determined to keep strong. But to keep it strong, however, he needed to keep the blood strong and in order to do that was with his offspring; in other words, his son.

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III; his pride and joy.

Well, not so much. While most young boys his age were out with their father's hunting and learning how to fight, _his_ son was either out sketching or building useless inventions that didn't work ninety-percent of the time. That was his son and the future chief of Berk.

Stoick has had his moments of disappointment with Hiccup, but none quite like this. His glare didn't falter for the last five minutes as Hiccup shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

_Da-da-da, I'm dead_, Hiccup continued to chant in his head. He wasn't going to speak that's for sure. If his dad was angry, it was best just to wait for him to speak and then see where it leads from there.

"Hiccup," Stoick sighed, "I just don't understand."

_No surprise there._

"Why don't you just give up these silly _inventions_ already? They cause nothin' but trouble for the village and things are bad enough here as it is." Despite the argument that began to work it's way out Hiccup's mouth, he held back. This time, there really was no explaining why he attempted that stunt. He himself was still trying to process it. His father took his silence as a challenge. "Are you listening to me boy?"

"Yes!" Hiccup replied with a little too much force. He cleared his throat before trying again. "Dad, I'm sorry. I was just trying to help."

"With what?"

"Well, I heard you and the others talking about the decline in sheep so I thought-"

"That you'd mess with their water supply?"

Hiccup raised his hands up in defense. "No! The waterway was being blocked so I thought I'd make a water channel to lead it directly to where the sheep are kept."

"Oh, is that all?" Hiccup sighed, knowing his dad's sarcasm-style by heart. It's where he got his, after all. "Well, then tell me genius, how did that go?"

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry, okay? I just wanted to help."

"But it's not your place, not yet anyway. It will be once you become chief. But first you must change-" Stoick swept his hand up and down, motioning over Hiccup's entire body, "-this."

Hiccup raised an eyebrow. "You just gestured to all of me."

He nodded. "Exactly, change that and I'll start thinking of you as chief-material. Until then, stop with the crazy inventions and do something practical."

Stoick left without another word, leaving Hiccup alone with nothing but his thoughts.

He bowed his head, resting his forehead against the palm of his hand. Boy, did he screw up this time. Berk was undergoing enough shortage of food, if they had lost the sheep...

But that was the exact reason he had done what he did; to help the village. Hiccup sighed and crossed the room where he disconnect from his body and collapsed onto the bed. Who was he fooling? Certainly not himself. The reason he pulled this stunt was to get recognition. To be considered a hero and for once to be looked at as someone worthy enough to be the son of _Stoick the Vast_.

Of course, fate had other plans for Hiccup and decided to have the water channels fall to pieces.

"Is it too much to ask for a little acknowledgment in this place?" he mumbled into his pillow.

Hiccup jumped in surprise. A strong breeze had suddenly overpowered his window, causing it to open and violently slam against the wall. For a second, he wondered if the universe had actually heard his question before he shook his head and went to close it. Berk was the type of area where cold wind was a daily thing, but today had been one of its slightly warmer and none windy days. So where had that sudden breeze come from?

Hiccup flinched when he pressed his hand against the glass. It was cold as ice and, if he squinted hard enough, he could just make-out the pattern of a snowflake forming.

"It's official, I'm going crazy."

"You sure do talk to yourself a lot," a voice replied.

Hiccup squealed, causing the voice to laugh, and jerked back, pressing himself hard against the wall. His eyes searched frantically throughout the small room and finally caught sight of someone sitting at the edge of his bed. Despite his caution, Hiccup was curious. The stranger looked so...abnormal.

It was a normal boy, close to his age it looked. But his clothes and his features had Hiccup guessing that he wasn't from around here. What was even stranger was the fact that the boy was leaning against what looked to be a wooden staff.

"Uh, I'm gonna go out a limb here and say you're lost," Hiccup spoke slowly, creeping his way towards the front door. He figured his dad hadn't gone too far and if he could at least open the door to scream, someone would come. The only thing he needed to do was keep this boy talking. "But don't worry, I'll just get someone to...uh, help you find your way out of Berk."

"Why?" the stranger asked. "I kind of like it here. It's nice and cold and the ocean is right next door."

Was it his imagination, or did the stranger seem to be fighting back a knowing smirk?

"That was a pretty intense conversation," he continued. Hiccup cringed and unintentionally rubbed the nape of his neck. "What'd you do with the sheep's water anyway?"

"Well, it was accident really. I-wait, why am I telling you this?" Hiccup shook his head to clear it and reached backward for the door-handle. He gripped it and slowly began opening the door. "Now it was a pleasure having a stranger break into my house but if you don't mind leaving, I'll just-"

The door was halfway opened when a strong gust of wind suddenly emanated, forcing it to slam shut. Hiccup gasped, flabbergasted at the fact that the wind seemed to have blown in from...his bed? No, he realized with much confusion, it had come from the boy that rested on it.

"Did I finally get your attention?" the boy asked, the smirk breaking through to his lips. Hiccup was frozen with wide-eyes. "You seem distraught."

Hiccup physically seemed to wake-up but mentally, his brain wasn't functional enough to form words. "I-I-what? How-you just-what-?"

"You sure do babble when you're nervous? Hey, I'm learning so much about you already, only fair you know something about me. My names Jack Frost."

For a moment they just stared, each anticipating what the other would do. Jack seemed to wait for Hiccup to get his thoughts straight. Hiccup on the other hand had other ideas. His hand reached over to the desk beside him and he seized the tiny dagger that rested on it.

"D-Don't try anything, Ymir!" he cried out shakily, pointing the weapon at the pale boy across from him.

Jack raised an eyebrow, standing up. "What'd you call me? Is that an insult around here?"

"I am a Viking!" Hiccup continued, though his fear kept on overpowering his confidence; if he even had any in the first place. "My father is the chieftain of Berk, so...so you're outmatched!" Jack gave him a blank stare before tapping his staff against the ground lightly. The dagger in Hiccup's hand was blown away by a sudden wind and clattered onto the floor. Jack smirked at the look Hiccup was giving him. "Da-da-da, I'm dead..."

"Would you just calm down for a second?" Jack said. "I'm not here to hurt you, I'm here to talk."

"You just threw wind at me," Hiccup argued, throwing his arms in the air. "Forgive me if I had taken that as a threat."

"Oh, so you do have a sense of humor." Hiccup rolled his eyes, his caution slowly dying down. I mean, if Jack wasn't taking his fear seriously and is even making jokes about it, how scary can the guy be? And, he also knew that if he tried to make a grab for the dagger, Jack would just blow it out of his hand again, so talking really was the best, and _only_, option.

"If you want to talk, then start, because I'm really confused right now."

Jack nodded. "You want the simple, straight-forward version, or the long, detailed-gonna-give-me-a-headache-explaining version?

"Uh, you pick I guess."

"Alright," he shrugged before simply saying, "I'm a Guardian of Childhood who was sent to retrieve my team of other Guardians, and the first one I'm here to get is you."

Hiccup didn't answer for a while. "Uh, I think I want the long-explanation instead."

Jack sighed, leaving against his staff for support. "I guess I'll start with something simple. I am the spirit of winter, or at least I was. Until good old Santa said-"

"Hang on, Santa? As in the fairy tale guy who sneaks into kids houses and leaves them gifts under the tree?"

"Creepy, right?" Jack chuckled. "I always tell him that but he never listens. Oh, and don't even get me started on the Easter Bunny when it comes to not listening. He's so-" Jack paused, finally glancing at the gaped look Hiccup was sending him. "Probably shoulda mentioned that we're all real, right?"

"By 'we' you mean...?"

"Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, Boogeyman, Sandman, oh and good old Tooth Fairy. She's the only Guardian I can actually tolerate. You also got your Mother Nature, uh, Man in Moon but those aren't that important so I'll just leave them out." Jack paused and gave him a nod of question. "Understand, so far?"

Hiccup gave him a thumbs up. "My psychological state of mind has officially snapped, got it!"

"Hey, I'm trying to be as straight here as possible."

"Well, it's obviously not working." Hiccup raised an eyebrow and Jack was about to ask what was wrong when he said, "Wait, how'd you get in here anyway?"

"Through the big gaping hole upstairs," he shrugged.

"There's no...oh no..." The young viking quickly rushed up the stairs and sure enough, there stood a big gaping hole on the wall..._right beside his fathers bed_. "Oh boy, how am I gonna explain this one?"

"Now do you believe I'm real?" Hiccup almost had a heart attack as Jack appeared right beside him. He was about to ask how he made it up the stairs so fast without making a sound when his words caught in his breath. Jack's sat cross-legged with his staff in his hands, but instead of sitting on the ground, his body was hovering in mid-air. As though there was some invisible force keeping him up.

Hiccup blinked rapidly. "Wow, my subconscious is more creative than I thought."

"Just, shut up, okay?" Jack shook his head, running a pale-hand through his hair. "Sit down and I'll explain everything as best as I can and _after_, you can decide whether you're crazy or not. Deal?"

Hiccup hesitated at first, weighing all the options down. After coming up with no reasonable solution as to why he should refuse to listen, he sat down, far from Jack, onto his dad's bed and nodded. "I'm all ears."

* * *

"Look it's not that I don't believe you-"

"It's just that you believe your subconscious has personified an image to help deal with the stress of disappointing the whole village and your father. This image tells you you're special and some kind of savior so that you don't feel so down on yourself." Jack sighed and shook his head. "I _got_ it, it's you who's not getting it."

Hiccup groaned. "Well, how am I supposed to believe you after you told me I'm the only one who can see you, huh?"

"You can see me because you're chosen to be a Guardian!"

"That's not a logical reason!"

"None of this is logical! I'm a boy who's floating in midair! How's that logical?" Hiccup groaned again and stalked out of the room and down the stairs. Jack mimicked his actions and followed him outside. "Where are you going?"

"To find someone who can see you," he answered simply.

"No one believes in me." Jack took a fast breath; those words weren't something he liked to say. "So of course no one's going to see me. You're lucky no ones outside right now or else they'll catch you talking to yourself."

Hiccup rolled his eyes and turned left, stopping at the first house he saw. He tapped a little too loudly on the door and waited. Jack forced himself not to bang his head against his staff and just decided to let Hiccup learn his lesson the hard way.

After a minute someone opened the door and Hiccup froze.

"Hiccup, what're you doing here?" Astrid asked.

He didn't answer because he was too stunned. Of all the houses he could go too, he ended up knocking on the one of his longtime crush. Yup, fate was definitely _not_ on his side today. Well, not that it ever was. He blinked, realizing that she was still waiting for an answer.

"Uh, hey, Astrid." He cleared his throat. "Nice seeing you here."

"It's my house," she replied with a stoic expression.

Hiccup's cheeks flushed and he could hear Jack laughing from behind him. "Right, right. I just, uh, came to ask you something."

He didn't say anything after that, trying to come up with a question.

"And, what is your question?" she asked and it was obvious in her tone that she was trying to be patient with him.

"Right um..." Hiccup glanced over his shoulder and did his best to keep his face neutral at the sight. Jack was resting on his back a few feet above the ground, one arm rested behind his head and other twirling a snowflake around his hand. He quickly turned back to Astrid. "Do you see anything strange right now?"

"I see you bothering me this evening."

"Sorry, um, what I really need to ask is..." Hiccup racked his brain and said the first thing that came to mind. "Did you hear about the sheep-incident?"

"The whole village did, why?"

He hastily shook his head, cheeks refusing to cool down. "N-No reason. Just wanted to see if you or the others had heard."

"Because you don't want us to make fun of you?" Hiccup sighed and nodded. Truth was, he genuinely was hoping the other teenagers hadn't heard about the incident. They already teased him enough, this would just tip the scale even more.

Astrid raised an eyebrow at his silence before shaking her head with a groan. "Have you ever known me to make fun of you?" she asked.

Hiccup looked up, confused. "Um, no, I guess not."

"So after all the screw-ups you've done so far that I've never given you grief for, what makes you think _this _one will be different?"

"Uh, w-what makes you think I care if you make fun of me?" Hiccup nervously said, running a hand through his hair.

"The fact that you came to my house out of everyone else." Astrid shrugged. "Just making a logical assumption."

"That's smart of you," he chuckled, easing up a bit. "Seriously though, there's no one behind me?"

"Huh? No, why?"

Hiccup raised his hands up, slowly backing away. "No, reason. So...I gotta go, sorry for bothering you. Um, yea, bye."

Astrid was about to say something but Hiccup took off. He didn't stop running until he reached a path uphill that would lead to the forest. He rested his back against the tree and face-palmed himself. Everyone in the village. Out of everyone in the village he ended up banging on Astrid's door! Not only that, but he's got a crazy boy who flies following him around telling him he's part of a group that protect kid's childhood. Seriously?

"Boy, that was hard to watch," Jack laughed. Hiccup jumped and put a little distance from him. "Told you others wouldn't see me. Who's she by the way? Seems like you guys got something going on."

"T-That was Astrid and I don't wanna talk about her."

"You mean you don't wanna talk about how you embarrassed yourself in-front of her?"

Hiccup rolled his eyes and began walking back home, not knowing why he had even ran towards the forest. He ignored the pale-boy behind him, who had started dragging his staff across the ground, making frozen patterns in its wake. He wondered how he would explain the huge hole to his dad when he spotted something out of the corner of his eye.

It looked like a shadow, but with pale eyes that seemed to be staring back at him.

He blinked and it was gone. Hiccup shook his head, still contemplating his sanity. He turned around, ready to tell Jack to finally leave him alone, but found no one. For just a split second, Hiccup felt...sad and even a little lonely. After all, Jack was the only thing here that didn't look at him with a disappointed scowl.

But he shook those feelings away, thought to himself _good riddance_, and walked away.

* * *

Jack felt slightly guilty for leaving without telling Hiccup.

The kid already thought he was going crazy, now he was sure he made it worse. But Jack couldn't help it. He acted on impulse before when he had spotted something following them. Not just spot though, he _felt_ something trailing their every move since they stepped outside Hiccup's house.

Whatever it was he felt, it seemed to lead to the forest Hiccup had almost walked to after his downfall with Astrid. Jack's feet crunched with fallen leaves and the canopy of trees above his head grew darker with the setting sun.

_Stupid kid_, Jack thought to himself. _If he would just stop being so stubborn and leave with me already, then I wouldn't be stuck here chasing after who-knows-what!_

Something moved beside him and Jack tensed. He swiftly did a one-eighty turn and positioned his staff as a soldier would his sword. His eyes widened before narrowing in determination. Whatever had followed them, it seemed to be a shadow with empty white-eye sockets and long branch-like fingers. Jack didn't want whatever it was to attack, so he decided to do it first.

Taking a deep breath, he shot out a stream of ice towards the shadow. But before it could hit, the last drop of sunshine went away, and so did it.

_What the-?_

Jack ran to where the shadow had previously been, but found no trace of it. Whatever it was, it had to be here after Hiccup. But who would be after him? Jack froze, a name slowly making it's way into his memory. Who did Bunnymund say was threatening them? Suddenly, with a stark realization, the name was clear across his mind's eye.

Pitch Black.

* * *

**A Ymir, which is what Hiccup had called Jack, is a type of Frost Giant in Norse Mythology(which is what vikings believed in back then).**

**I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I have a link to a picture of what the shadows Hiccup and Jack had seen looked like; although it's not that hard to imagine, lol. Just add a dot to where ever there is space in the link, except next to "http" where you should add ":" and another "/".**

**http /www theguardiansofchildhoodbooks com/images/characters/fearlings jpg**


	3. Chapter 3: Recruitment Part II

**This is the longest chapter of the story so far. I'm sorry it took a while to get to you guys, my grades had dropped and in college, that is kind of a big deal.**

**By the way, to anyone reading this story, I want to give you guys a big thanks! This story has only 2 chapters and already almost has 2,000 reads and a bunch of favorites and followers! Thank You for the support! :) Makes me really happy to see people are enjoying it so far. **

**There is Norse Language in this chapter and I'll give you the translations here.**

_**gellir: yeller, screamer**_

_**hgfdi: head**_

_**bqllr: ball, glans penis**_

**Yeah, you'll understand why these words as you read the chapter, lol.**

* * *

**CHAPTER 3: Recruitment Part II**

Hiccup continued to doodle in his notebook.

It was early in the afternoon and he hadn't seen Jack since yesterday. His dad the previous night, surprisingly, wasn't all that mad about the huge hole in the wall. In fact, he didn't seem all that shocked. Although glad he wasn't in any trouble, it had saddened Hiccup considering it basically showed what little faith his dad had in him. Still, he'd take silence over yelling any day.

Hiccup blinked, coming out of his thoughts and realized he had been tracing over the same line repeatedly, almost to the point of breaking through the paper.

Another realization; he had been drawing the image of a boy with a hood shielding his eyes and a staff beside him. Hiccup groaned, ripping the page out and tossing it into the pile of more crumbled papers that held the same image in the corner of the room.

"That was just a little episode I had," he said, hoping that saying the words out-loud would help him convince himself. "There is no such thing as the '_Guardians'_ and they're not trying to recruit me. It was just stress. I'm still the same Hiccup as before. There is nothing special about me." He paused and glanced around. For a moment, he almost hoped Jack would interrupt him with some snarky comment as before.

Nothing.

He sighed. This wasn't all that surprising to him. After all, why would the universe suddenly want to make him happy and actually bring him something that could even be considered amazing? That just wasn't his life. He wasn't some hero in a story that would be confronted with extraordinary people telling him he needs to go off on some journey of self-discovery. Hiccup wished for that, heck, everyone person his age did. But it wasn't going to happen, he was sure of it.

"Wow, I am such a self-pitying person."

"Well, at least you're honest with yourself."

Hiccup jumped up from his desk in excitement, but his smile dropped, seeing Astrid. Wait-Astrid? His smile quickly came back, but along with it came the nervousness.

"H-Hey, what's up? What're you doing in my room?"

"Honestly, I need help with some homework and I was hoping you're not busy."

Hiccup perked up even more. "Yea! I mean, sure, let me just clean up a bit."

She shook her head. "Lets go outside, to the cliff by the port."

He was confused at first, but blinked in realization and blushed. He couldn't believe she still remembered their spot. He wouldn't say he and Astrid were the closest of friends, but when they were younger he always used to help her with homework on the cliff by the port. In return, she would teach him fighting techniques, although he never did them quite as well as her.

They made their way over to the cliff, notebooks and pencils in hand. Hiccup kept a little distance from the edge and sat down with crossed legs. Astrid, on the other hand, was a little more adventurous and sat right on edge with her legs dangling.

"I always hated when you'd sit there," Hiccup cringed.

"Hey, just because you're scared doesn't mean we all are," she laughed. "Thanks for helping, I was really stuck on these questions about _Thor _and _Loki_."

"What's the first question?"

She opened her notebook and read. "Uh, what weapon did Thor wield and what properties did it hold?" She glanced up at Hiccup. "Didn't he use some hammer or something?"

Hiccup nodded. "His weapon was a hammer called, '___Mjollnir_'. The dwarfs created it for him." She quickly wrote down what he said down. "Whenever he would throw _Mjollnir_, it would return to his hand, sorta like a boomerang. It also says that his weapon could bring people back to life."

"Alright, this questions asks how Loki killed Balder." She held up a finger just as Hiccup was about to answer. "Wait, wait, let me try to answer. I'll never learn if I don't."

Hiccup nodded and waited with a small smile on his face. It was times like this that made all the hardship living in Berk worthwhile. He frowned and began playing with his fingers as Astrid mumbled possible answers out loud.

"Hey...Astrid?" he hesitantly mumbled.

She looked up from her notebook. "What?"

Unable to meet her eyes, Hiccup asked the one question he'd always wondered. "How come you don't treat me like the others do? I mean, you do have your moments of roughness, but that's only cause its your personality. Why aren't you as mean to me as them?"

He didn't dare look up and the silence stretched. His cheeks flushed and he opened his mouth to take the question back when she spoke.

"You're not a bad guy, or a screw-up for that matter." He brows knitted together and Astrid rolled her eyes. "Yeah, a lot of things go wrong for you, but that's cause you have rotten luck. But I've known you my whole life and I know you're not stupid. You're actually the most clever and intelligent guy I know. You just need more confidence in yourself. Stop putting yourself down and be a little more open-minded. Do that, and I'm sure people will start to see all your good qualities instead of your bad ones."

Hiccup didn't respond, his jaw slightly opened in astonishment.

Astrid suddenly seemed to realize what she had said and a blush stained her cheeks before she shot out her fist, hitting Hiccup hard in the shoulder. "Don't think too much into that! I-It's just annoying having someone pity themselves so much! Makes you look weak!"

They got back to doing homework and most of the time was spent in silence.

Occasionally though, Hiccup would send Astrid a smile when she wasn't looking.

* * *

After almost an hour of homework and occasional small-talk, Hiccup waved goodbye to Astrid, who said she was going back home and watched as she disappeared back to the village.

He on the other hand, didn't feel like going home and decided to stay at the cliff, staring at the small boats at the bottom sway with the churn of the water.

He just kept wondering: why couldn't Jack's words leave his thoughts?

Hiccup shook his head, knowing that it wasn't so much the words, but the hope that came with them. Hope of becoming something ___more_than he already is. But if he's learned anything so far, it's that hope can be a really terrifying thing to cling to. The proof was in all his failed attempts at impressing the village.

His ears perked up, hearing voices.

Hiccup glanced down and saw a group of vikings load themselves into one of the more slender boats and he wondered how they fit when his dad showed up. He sighed, knowing exactly where they were headed. After all, it had been almost a month since their last raid on a village and they were running low on supplies. Just like every other time his dad left to lead the raid, Hiccup's stomach clenched uncomfortably. He knew Berk's situation was bad, really bad, and he knew that stealing was their only option for the moment, but that didn't make him feel any less guilty. According to his dad, they only take from villages that have plenty to offer, like the kingdom for example. Still, he knew it was wrong but didn't have a say in the matter.

The boat descended and was soon swallowed up by the thick fog that always seems to plague their waters. But just before it disappeared out-of-sight, Hiccup almost swore he saw his dads face look straight at him. Whatever expression he held, Hiccup could not see, but he was sure he probably didn't want too.

Something wet and cold suddenly touched his nose. He blinked when it happened again not a second later. He looked up, but found no clouds. What was even stranger was that the snow seemed to only circle around him, like his own personal snowfall.

"Could you not do that?" he asked, knowing that he will now get an answer, and he did.

"Don't be such a grump," Jack chuckled. "Most people enjoy snow."

"Not people who live in places where it snows almost all year."

Jack considered this and shrugged, flicking his hand and causing the snow to stop. "Good point."

Hiccup gave his head a good shake to get rid of the white puff that gathered in his hair. He was so glad that Astrid left or the snow would've been an extremely hard thing to explain.

"So, wanna accept my offer yet?" Jack said.

Hiccup pursed his lips. After Jack had poorly explained the whole "Guardians thing", he gave Hiccup the option to at least meet the other Guardian members; such as North and the Tooth Fairy, instead of joining right away. Apparently, Jack's only job was to get his butt to Santa Claus, as weird as it sounded.

"You're asking me as if I actually believe you."

Jack's face remained still but his heart dropped to his stomach. He knew Hiccup only meant believing in the fact that he is a chosen Guardian, but that sentence itself was hard for Jack to hear.

He cleared his throat, focusing on the task at hand. "So, what? You're just gonna stay in denial?"

"Yes."

Jack sighed. "Alright then, I'm just going to have to bother you until you believe in me-I mean believe in the Guardians."

Hiccup rolled his eyes and smirked sarcastically. "Listen, this has been fun and it was nice meeting you and all, ___Jack Frost_. But if you'll excuse me though, I'd like to keep what sanity I have left in one piece, thank you. So, please leave."

"Is it really so hard to believe that you're more special than you realize?"

"I've got sixteen years of disappointed looks and failures to prove you otherwise."

It was Jack's turn to smirk sarcastically. "You're making me tear, Hiccup. Please, continue feeling sorry for yourself."

Hiccup narrowed his eyes defensively. "Look I don't expect anyone to understand, now I have to get home."

Jack glared and stepped in-front of Hiccup's way. Hiccup tried to side-step him but each time he moved, Jack kept blocking his path. "Home to what?" Jack countered. "I saw your dad leave on that boat."

"Hey, you don't want to make me mad," Hiccup threatened weakly, jabbing a finger in Jack's chest. "All this raw-vikingness is just waiting to burst out on someone."

Jack rolled his eyes and Hiccup used that moment to make a quickly side-step around him. He walked, trying hard to ignore the boy that followed him, although that was easier said than done. Jack's presence alone gave the air around them a chill.

"You're in danger!"

Hiccup froze, confused. Reluctantly, he turned around. "What? What're you talking about?"

"Look I don't know much." Jack shook his head and adjusted his staff from one hand to the next. "But Pitch is here, I know he is."

"Who's Pitch?"

"The Boogeyman, the Guardians enemy; in short, he is ___fear_. He represents what children fear. And he's also here, for you."

Hiccup didn't reply. His mind drifted back to the other day. So that shadow he had seen wasn't his imagination. He felt a cold hand on his shoulder and met Jack's eyes.

"Hiccup," Jack sighed. "I know you still think you're crazy and that this whole thing can't be possible. But, just for a second, pretend it was. ___You're_in danger, and so is the people around you."

It took a moment, but Hiccup said, "Okay, I'll give you the benefit of doubt, for now. But why is the Boogeyman here for me?"

"I don't know, but we gotta keep a look-out for anything weird."

"Weirder than this?"

Jack chuckled. "I mean bad weird. I'm adorable."

Hiccup rolled his eyes with a smile, the tension between him and Jack suddenly seemed to go down. He realized that Astrid was right, he needed to keep more of an open mind. He guessed the first step to do that was to trust Jack's word.

"Wait a second, you said he was going to go after the people around me?"

"It's a possibility, I mean, I would think that's what a bad-guy would do."

Hiccup ran a hand through his hair. ___Alright, dad's gone for a while so he's not in danger. Gobber went with him so he's fine as well. Who did that leave? I don't much friends here. Except maybe..._

"Astrid!" he gasped.

"What?" Jack asked. He received no reply though for Hiccup took off in a run. Jack swiftly followed, using the wind to glide through the air.

For once in his life, Hiccup was glad that Berk was small because he made it to Astrid's house in less than a minute. Not caring who stared, he knocked loudly on the door and anxiously waited. It was only a few seconds later that someone stepped out, but to Hiccup it seemed like a lifetime. If the Boogeyman-or-whatever really was after him, then he must've seen Astrid and him together.

"Can I help you, Hiccup?" a women said. She had blonde hair that was tightly braided and went down to the middle of her back and Hiccup knew instantly that she was Astrid's mom, despite the fact he had only met her once or twice.

He cleared his throat, trying to get it steady. "Hey, is, uh, Astrid home?"

Her face was a question mark. "She said she was with you doing homework. I don't know where she is now. Is everything alright?"

He shook his head longer than necessary, putting his hands up in defense. "No, no! She just, uh, forget to take some notes." He slowly backed away. "Sorry for bothering you, she probably went looking for me to get her notes back. So...um, yea, sorry for bothering!"

Face stained red, Hiccup sprinted away as fast as he could without looking suspicious. Thankfully, Astrid's mom left the issue alone and went back inside.

___She said she was going straight home, so where is she?_

Jack appeared at his side. "I'm going to fly around and see if I can spot her, okay?"

"Alright, I'll go check at my house."

Jack raised his hand and Hiccup, without really thinking, high-fived it before sprinting to his house. He couldn't help but grin on the way. It was strange, but that little high-five gave him an extra boost of confidence. Maybe it was the fact that he was working together with someone? Whatever, he didn't have time to mull over it, he had to find Astrid.

If anything happened to her, he believed the guilt would haunt him the rest of his life. Hiccup shook his head. ___Focus! What did Astrid tell you?_

His mind traveled back to just only an hour ago where everything didn't seem so bad:

___**'You're actually the most clever and intelligent guy I know. You just need more confidence in yourself. Stop putting yourself down and be a little more open-minded. Do that, and I'm sure people will start to see all your good qualities instead of your bad ones.'**_

___Astrid's right_, he reminded himself. ___If I put myself down now she could get hurt; focus Hiccup. Focus on finding Astrid and seeing her again. Seeing her smile..._

He exhaled, putting his center to her kind words and burst in through the door to his home.

At first he saw nothing strange.

His notes and drawing were still scattered across desk. His bed looked untouched and the window was slightly opened where a soft breeze flew in. Then, Hiccup suddenly felt himself being flung across the room where he landed on the floor with a hard crash. He blinked and suddenly it was the shadow from the other day. It's hollow eyes were intense with resolve. Without any warning, it charged toward him at an incredible speed.

Fear spiked him, but Hiccup managed to jump out of the way and the shadow went straight through the wall. He quickly ran out the house and for just a second, his heart stopped as he lost of it. Then, he saw a black figure racing towards the forest.

He didn't know how, but suddenly Hiccup was certain that that was where Astrid was.

With pumping adrenaline, he dashed into the forest and didn't stop until he reached a small cliff. He glanced down to see a clearing; a perfect circle, with tall cliffs back to the village surrounding it and a sparkling lake in the center. Hiccup climbed his way down and breathed a sigh of relief when his foot met solid ground.

When the shadow revealed itself, he saw it a second before it came at him again. Anticipating it this time, Hiccup side-stepped the thing and pulled out a tiny dagger that had been resting on the side of his pants.

Stoick had given this to him almost two years ago, stating that if he wasn't around, Hiccup could at least defend himself with that. In that span of time, he's never even flashed it out, until today.

"W-Where's Astrid?" Hiccup demanded, hating the way his voice wavered. He swore the shadow was smirking as it gestured it's head over to something. He raised an eyebrow, confused before moving his gaze to the top of the cliffs. The only thing he spotted was a head of blonde hair, but it was enough to make him gasp. "Astrid!"

Unfortunately, the shadow used his moment of distraction to charge. But before it could make it's hit, a stream of ice shot at it. The shadow hissed and flew away, disappearing into the trees.

Hiccup grinned, seeing Jack float down beside him. "Jack!"

"Oh, so now you're happy to see me? When your life is in mortal danger?" Jack joked with a smirk.

Hiccup pointed over to the cliff. "Astrid's up there. Can you distract that thing while I get her?"

"Distraction; got it."

Not two seconds later was Jack suddenly thrown across the clearing. Hiccup almost ran over to him, but Jack twisted through the air and got himself steady. Still in the air, he planted his feet on the tree he would've smashed into and kicked off it, using the momentum to slam into the shadow.

What Jack failed to realize was that the enemy was just that, a ___shadow_, and he ended up passing right through it. The force he used to kick off the tree was too much and he couldn't stop himself from crashing into the solid-rock wall of the cliff.

Hiccup cringed and called out, "You okay?"

Jack groaned and rubbed his head while giving him a thumbs up. The shadow went after Jack once more and Hiccup used that as his chance to get to Astrid.

He ran over to edge and slowly began climbing his way up, which, evidently, was a lot harder than going down it. It took a while, but he managed to reach the top and knelt down beside Astrid, who laid asleep on the ground, too close to the edge for his taste. A line of blood trickled down from her head and for a scary moment, Hiccup thought she was dead.

He put a hand to her chest and exhaled a deep sigh of relief; she was breathing. The shadow had only hit her on the head to knock her out.

Hiccup heard Jack scream and turned to see him slam onto the ground. He wondered how something so small could do that when his question was answered. The shadow, who previously was as small as, well, himself, had somehow grown to the size of a horse, a rather large, bulky horse.

"Jack!" Hiccup shouted. "Get up!"

Jack stood up from the hard fall and swayed on shaky legs. Hiccup guessed that the thing had tossed him around a few times like a rag-doll. Jack got ready to strike the creature when it struck him with it's hand and he flew far, disappearing from view.

Hiccup gulped. "Da-da-da...I'm dead." He realized that he's been saying that a lot since he met Jack.

The shadow turned its eyes to him and Hiccup quickly wrapped Astrid's arm around his shoulder and lifted her up with his other hand tightly gripping her waist. He staggered as fast as he could and, acting on instincts alone, Hiccup dropped onto the ground, cradling Astrid as best as he could. His gut was correct for the shadow had charged above their heads and slammed into a tree.

Hiccup narrowed his eyes as it took its time getting back up. ___When it was small, it could pass right through us whenever it wanted too, but when it's big it can only touch solid things. Does it lose power the bigger it gets?_

His eyes widened in realization. "I've got it!"

The shadow hissed and swung it's hand.

"Ah!" Hiccup screamed. "Bad move! Bad move!"

He ducked out of the way and, not having any other choice, threw Astrid as far as he could away from the creature. Unfortunately, that left him defenseless as the thing swung its arm once again and landed a hard hit.

Hiccup grunted and became weightless, air rushing through his clothes. He closed his eyes, waiting for the impact of the ground, but it never came.

"Your prince is here."

Hiccup looked down and found himself floating a good few feet above the ground, Jack's arms holding him bridal-style. Had he not been in a life-threatening situation, this kind of thing would be embarrassing, but at the moment he could care less.

"My prince could've come a little earlier but, hey, I'm not complaining," he jested.

Jack smirked but it dropped off his face as the shadow wailed, climbing down onto the clearing and staring up at them, beckoning for a fight. He glared at it before swiftly flying over to where Astrid suddenly began stirring. He placed Hiccup down.

"Astrid," Hiccup said worriedly, kneeling beside her and putting a hand to her shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"H-Hiccup?" She sat upright with Hiccup's help and looked around in confusion. "How'd I get here? Ow! And, ow, why is my head killing me?"

"I'll explain, can you tell me what happened after you left?"

She rubbed her head, trying to clear it. "Um, I was walking home but saw something. It looked like you but, well, only dark."

"You saw me as a shadow?"

"Yeah, I guess. I thought I forgot something back at the cliff so I followed you. You went close the trees and suddenly disappeared. Then I saw, I don't know what it was, but it was size of my house and then, well, everything went black."

She flinched as the shadow cried out, it's wail echoing and making the leaves in the tree's shiver.

"Hiccup," Jack said. "It's getting impatient. You two leave while I handle it."

"I'm not leaving you alone with that thing," Hiccup replied instantly and he was surprised at how genuine and strong his words were. "It's after me, so I should fight it."

Jack ignored him though and sped off before Hiccup could protest further.

"Who're you talking to?" Astrid asked, trying to stand up.

"Oh, forgot only I can see him," he mumbled as he grasp her arm, pulling her up. She raised an eyebrow at him and he continued before she had the chance to ask more questions. "Listen, that thing that knocked you out earlier is after me. He took you to lure me in, so you gotta go and get somewhere safe."

"Wait, what thing? And why's it after you?" The shadow wailed and Jack aimed his staff at it, temporarily freezing its hands together. But that only lasted a moment before it shattered, debris of ice flying everywhere. "Whoa...what is ___that_?" Astrid muttered, eyes wide with disbelief.

Hiccup shook his head. "Not really sure, but I think I know how we can beat it."

She continued to stare at the creature before sighing and meeting his eyes. "Alright, so what's the plan?"

"Whoa, hey, you're hurt, you need rest."

"And do nothing? I don't think so."

"But Astrid-"

She placed her hand over his mouth, silencing him. "I don't know what's going on, but that thing attacked me and I ___refuse_to take that sitting down. My head's a little sore but I've had worse, trust me. Plus," she smirked, bumping her fist against his arm, "you think you're puny body can handle something that big? You need my fighting skills."

Hiccup blushed and the two grinned at each, momentarily forgetting about the creature. That illusion was broken though by the sound of Jack's screams.

"Hiccup! A little help here! This thing's not going down!"

Hiccup cleared his throat with a nod. "R-Right! Okay, Astrid, if you're gonna stay then here's what you need to do."

* * *

Hiccup sucked in a breath and exhaled slowly, trying to calm his nerves. ___Astrid's going to be fine, she's a lot tougher and stronger than me, she can handle that thing. I just hope my plan works, if not.._

He didn't think about that part and continued to hide behind the small boulder, gazing at the clearing from atop the cliffs. For once in his life, he was grateful that his body was built meager, or else he would never have been able to hide. He snuck a peek and saw that Astrid had gone along with the plan.

She let out a Viking-worthy shriek and stormed at the creature with a log. Jack, who had previous been trying to freeze the creature in vain, stumbled away from her in surprise. Astrid smashed the log into its leg and quickly put distance between them.

The shadow turned its attention to her. So far the plan was working. Now all Astrid was supposed to do was provoke it.

Jack glanced up and locked eyes with Hiccup, his face showing his confusion. Hiccup waved his hand, beckoning him over and he flew to his side.

"What're you doing sending your girlfriend to danger like that?" Jack asked.

"She's not my girlfriend...and she refused to leave! Plus I have a plan, want to help?"

"Uh, duh! Nothing I do hurts the thing. It's gotten too big to freeze, if it was smaller I'd have no problem." Hiccup quickly told Jack what to do and the latter nodded. "I got it, just hope it works."

"You and me both," Hiccup muttered under his breath.

Jack took off after the creature and got there just in time to push Astrid out of the way. A giant fist crashed in the spot where she had stood not two seconds ago.

"Whoa!" Astrid gasped, feeling a pair of arms wrapped around her. Whatever it was, it let go and she looked up to Hiccup, who gave her a thumbs up to keep going. She shakily nodded and proceeded with the plan.

"Hey, ___gellir_!" she shouted with a mischievous smirk. "Your head's so tiny I can't tell whether it's your ___hqfdi _or ___bqllr_!"

From up above, Hiccup's face flashed red while Jack was just stared at the girl like she had grown another head.

Astrid looked at the creatures frozen face. "What?"

"Use insults in a language it can actually understand!" Hiccup screamed from above, which was a bad idea because the shadow directed its eyes to him. "Ah, oh..."

He jumped out of the way as the creature leapt into the air and stomped on the ground, crushing the boulder in its wake. Hiccup quickly thought,___It's now or never__, _before calling out to the thing. "If Pitch wants me so bad, then you're gonna have to do better than that! You think your size is bad? That's nothing!"

He held his breath, waiting. The creature glared and screeched in defense before increasing almost three times it's current size. Hiccup tried not to smirk, or else he might tip it off. The shadow advanced on him, the ground trembling with each step it took. He slowly circled it, stopping as the creature stood with its back to the cliffs edge.

"Jack, now!" he cried out.

Jack appeared in-front of Hiccup just as the shadow leaped in for an attack. He positioned his staff, sucked in a breath, and shot. A large shard of ice darted out and struck the shadow in its chest. It let out a cry of agony and stumbled back. What the creature didn't know was how close to the edge it was until it lost its footing and went crashing down. A crater erupted in its wake and, thankfully, Astrid had moved so she wouldn't get caught in the wreckage.

Jack, weak from that last attack and all his previous effort, collapsed and Hiccup caught him before he hit the ground. He gently placed him down to rest and looked down at all the damage.

Trees were broken and bent, the lake shook with the previous earthquake the creature made when it fell. There was also something else. Silence. Hiccup has never been in a fight before, and he never realized how quiet it was afterward. What was he supposed to do now? The answer was obvious though; inspect the damage.

With Jack okay for now, Hiccup climbed his way down as fast as he could and ran over to the shadow. It seemed to have knocked out from the hard fall. As Hiccup had guessed, the effort it took to increase to that large of a size had drained the creature of a lot of its energy and all it took was one final strike, plus a hard fall, to take it down.

The shadow let out a small cry that pained Hiccup. Despite attacking him, Hiccup couldn't stop himself from feeling bad for the thing. Slowly, the creature opened its eyes and for just a heartbeat, he thought he saw something in its vacant eyes. But the shadow moaned once more and began disappearing.

Hiccup watched as black dust particles flew higher and higher into the air before, they too, vanished. He blinked and the shadows entire body had disintegrated.

"Hiccup!" Astrid suddenly called out, making him jump. Hiccup smiled and, without knowing what he was doing, ran and wrapped his arms around her. Not a second later did he realize what he did and pulled away.

"D-D-I-I don't know what, uh, t-that was just..."

Astrid rolled her eyes and gave him a quick hug. "I'm glad you're, well, not dead."

He blushed. "Me too. I mean, I'm glad both of us aren't dead."

Astrid looked away, hesitating her next question. "Hiccup...before when I was insulting that thing, I almost got squished but...someone or something pulled me out of the way. I don't know what it was but, I felt someones hands touch me. You also kept talking to yourself during the fight and I'm starting to think you were actually speaking to someone." Hiccup didn't meet her eyes. "Come on, after this whole thing with that, shadow or whatever, I'm almost willing to believe anything. You can tell me."

It was a moment before he nodded. "Okay, but first, come with me, I gotta make sure he's okay."

She wanted to ask who 'he' was but decided to wait and followed Hiccup back to the top of the cliff.

Hiccup's muscles ached as he reached the top and helped pull her up. After all the climbing and running he did today, Hiccup knew he could use a rest. But not now. He knelt down beside Jack and Astrid took a seat beside him.

Jack was fine, he just needed a quick rest from what Hiccup could tell, so while he slept, Hiccup told Astrid everything.

How Jack showed up, what he told him, and who sent that shadow and why it was after him. Not once did she interrupt, even though it was obvious she wanted too. When he was done, he waited for her reaction. From the look on her face, Hiccup could tell she had doubts, but there was also something else there. He wasn't sure what it was, but it looked close to acceptance.

They sat in silence for a few minutes.

"That's why you came to my house the other day," she muttered, more to herself than to him.

Silence filled the air between them once more before she finally looked up. Hiccup refused to meet her eyes though. He was afraid she was going to brush him off and call him insane, but was surprised at her question. "Are you gonna go with him?"

He looked up with a raised eyebrow. "What?"

"Jack, he wants you to leave and become a ___Guardian_ or something. Do you...do you want to go?"

Hiccup didn't reply.

In all honesty, the whole time he was only deciding if he was crazy or not. Whether Jack was real or a figment of his imagination. But now he knew. Jack was real, this Pitch-guy was real, and he wanted Hiccup hurt, or worse, dead. Hiccup frowned, realizing that he never thought about if he wanted to go or not.

He wondered; what did he really have at Berk? His dad was almost always unhappy at anything he did. Gobber maybe, but even he lectured Hiccup a lot. The whole village basically shunned him and his _odd _behavior and inventions. Again it came down to that one question:

What did he really have here?

"Whoa," Astrid suddenly said with a mixture of shock and amazement. She grabbed Hiccups elbow and shook it violently. "Are you seeing what I'm seeing. Wow, like, there he is. Jack Frost. You're right."

Hiccup couldn't help but smile at that. Jack was still asleep but he had a feeling he'd be happy to find out someone else can see him.

* * *

The next day, Hiccup stood gazing at the Isle of Berk, close enough to enter it but far enough to not officially be in it.

Behind him, Jack waited patiently while leaning against his staff. Hiccup adjusted his backpack, which wasn't filled with much, but he felt like he needed to do something. After all, he had agreed to go with Jack, packed his essentials and they were set to go. So, what's with the delay?

Why couldn't he turn his back to Berk? Hiccup didn't know what, but he felt as though there was one more thing he needed to do. Something that still kept him rooted to the place. But, what? As he thought about it, a figure began coming into view, running up the hill towards him.

"Astrid?" Hiccup said, confused. Despite fighting alongside together, he really didn't think she wanted to see him off. After all, the creature had kidnapped her so she was kind of forced into the fight. She had no obligation to him.

Astrid came to a stop in-front of him, panting lightly. "Great, you didn't leave yet."

"Not that I'm not flattered, but what's up? I really didn't expect you to come see me off."

She glared, but it was playful. "Do you really think that low of me? That I wouldn't come to say _goodbye_?"

"N-No! I mean, we don't really-I mean-" He stopped short, realizing she was only teasing and laughed sheepishly. "Sorry, I guess I'm just, I don't know, glad your face is the last one I'm seeing."

He didn't realize how honest he had been until he noticed her blush. But she shook it off and cleared her throat.

"Alright, I just came here to give you this." She took out something from her pocket and placed it gently on his hand. Hiccup examined it.

It was a pendent. Oval in shape and coated in a bronze layer with a black string supporting it. Written on the stone were a few dashes that crossed each other like an X. The language of the symbol was familiar to him, but Vikings had not used it for quite a while.

"It's Runes; Old-Norse language," Astrid explained, pulling at her bangs. "The symbol says _'____Gibo Auja_', which basically means '_Good Luck'_. I thought you might like it."

Hiccup clenched the pendent in his hand, his eyes fixed on her.

Looking now, it hit him hard how much he was going to miss her. They weren't as close as when they were kids, but she was still always ___there_. If Hiccup really thought about it actually, Astrid was the only person in the whole village that never looked at him with a disappointed scowl. In fact, she would even smile at him sometimes, and those were the moments in Berk that he truly treasured.

He wasn't sure, he but it looked as though her train of thought was linked to his. The look in her eyes showed that she wanted to say something, but didn't know how, so instead, she settled for hugging him. For once, Hiccup wasn't embarrassed by it. He quickly wrapped his arms around her and clenched tight before they both pulled away.

"Um, t-take care of yourself," she said, looking away awkwardly.

Suddenly, Hiccup knew why he was still hanging around. Astrid was important to him, but there was someone else he needed to say something too.

"Astrid," he spoke nervously, "my dad...he's not here and I'm probably going to be gone for a while so..."

She nodded with a smile. "I'll tell him you needed something to do."

"Think he'll go for just that?"

"Every Viking has their own path they need to follow; he did. Don't worry, I'll make sure he understands." Again, she looked as though she really wanted to say something, but it wasn't until a second later did Hiccup learn she was gathering courage to ___do _something.

With a start, she shot out her fist and hit him hard on the shoulder. "That's for getting me kidnapped."

"W-What? What's the matter with you? What's happened to our nice moment-?"

Hiccup froze when she seized his collar, pulled him close and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. Astrid cleared his throat, not meeting his eyes as she said, "That's for...everything else." She turned away and began walking down the path, but, half-way through, she paused and turned around. "If you run into more danger, don't get killed, okay? Or hurt. Cause if you come back with serious injuries I'll kill you myself, got it?"

Hiccup laughed, knowing that that was her way of saying: _take care and stay safe_.

"I will!" he called out, waving. She waved back and disappeared out of sight.

Hiccup sighed in content and, with one last glance at Berk, turned his back to it. He wasn't leaving it permanently, he realized. It was still his home, and would come back to it. Come back to his dad, to everyone. Astrid was right; every Viking has a path and this was his.

"So," he said to Jack, "where's our first stop?"

"Well, we've got two more recruits to pick up. I'm heading to one and you'll take the other."

"And, who is this Guardian I'm recruiting?" Jack reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. Hiccup grasped and unfolded it, but the picture in the front was like a punch in the gut for him. "You're kidding? Please, tell me this is a joke? _Not her_."

Jack raised an eyebrow in interest. "You know her?"

"Know her? My people steal from her kingdom all the time." Hiccup groaned loudly, dropping his face into his hands in despair. "Princess Merida, the worst kind of princess out there. I shoulda known, the universe wouldn't let me off the hook this easy."

* * *

**I hoped you all liked it! Took me a while to get this chapter right because, for some reason, I didn't like whatever I wrote. **

**On another note, I always see stories or headcanon's with The Big Four that usually ignore the other characters in the movies (like Astrid and Flynn) or make them rivals in love and I just want you guys to know, I will NOT be doing that for this story. All characters from all movies in this story will have a role to play.**

**The necklace Astrid had given Hiccup can be seen in my profile.**

**Thanks again for reading and please review! :D**


	4. Chapter 4: Princess of DunBroch

**Ooooooooookay...before anyone can yell out angrily at me, let me just sort of defend myself. I know it took a while to get this chapter in and I'm really sorry. At first, the reason was because I had trouble in college and had to study and catch up. Then I got a job that took up the majority of my week. I still have that job, but I got off during weekends. So now the only reason this chapter took a while is simple: THE STINKIN' DIALOGUE.**

**Like omg, I actually finished this chapter a week ago, but the dialogue took forever to write. Because, I want it to be as authentic as possible, so I found a translator to help me with Scottish slang and pronunciation. Not an easy thing to do let me tell you that. Most of it was so hard to read, that I had to edit A LOT of the dialogue with Merida because it was just too hard to understand what she was saying.**

**Ugh, so stressful.**

**Now, I want to tell all my readers (because this story got surprisingly a lot and I'm so happy and thankful to you guys), anyway I want to tell you that this will probably not be the first time a chapter took a while. And that's because I have a whole plot planned out for this story, and I want it to be done really well. So every time I finish a chapter, I do a lot of editing to make sure it's right. Sure, some grammar mistakes are overlooked, but the overall story is something I take seriously. So, I hope you guys will be patient with me and enjoy! :-D**

**And again, thank you so much for all your reviews! They really mean a lot to me. I'm an inspiring writer, who is currently working on a book, and I like when people criticize my writing. So, if you guys want, feel free to review about my writing style as well, lol. **

* * *

Chapter 4: Princess of DunBroch

"_Can ye believe it? Another raid by those barbaric Vikings!"_

"_Reit? What's Kin' Fergus doin'? Naethin' in mah opinion."_

"_It's th' princess actually. Th' queen is too distracted findin' her a suitur. An' it's really her tha' does aw th' work in th' kingdom."_

"_Who's 'at? Standin' aw by himself?"_

"_Fa cares? Let's jist go tae th' bar. Ah need some swally."_

Hiccup exhaled a breath.

He was sure those Scotts were going to recognize that he wasn't a local. That would've been really bad, especially since his people had just paid them a rather messy visit. The only thing Hiccup could be grateful about at the moment was that his dad had already left about a day ago.

The trip over here had taken about the same time, so Hiccup was thankful they didn't run into each other.

Jack had left an hour ago to get the other Guardian. So that left Hiccup to deal with Princess Merida of DunBroch. He was ashamed to admit it, but Hiccup had not thought about the fact that it was dangerous for him to go into the kingdom. He was a Viking after all, and they dressed, well, differently than these people. They would know who is was instantly.

That fact was proven when those two Scotts had spotted him, even though he wasn't even inside the kingdom yet. He stood just outside the grand walls, waiting for...well a plan.

After all, he couldn't just _walk _in. That would be the best idea if he wanted to get decapitated.

"Okay, the first thing I need to figure out is how I'm going to get in without tipping them off that I'm a Viking." Hiccup glanced to the side to see a family passing through the gates and into the kingdom. His eyes widened in realization. "Wait, all I need is clothes. I mean, the only real difference between a Scott and a Viking is the way they dress. Well, that and they have a stronger accent. Plus the whole raiding thing..."

He shook his head. "That's not important. Where am I gonna find some clothes?"

* * *

Hiccup's best bet at getting some clothes would be to grab some at night. And by grab, he meant borrow.

_It's not stealing_, he firmly told himself. _I'm just borrowing it for the time being and, after, I'll return it to the owner. That person probably won't even miss it. _

The moon shone down on DunBroch, providing Hiccup enough light to navigate his way through the dirt path. It was close to midnight and everyone had gone to bed. Besides the grand Castle, the homes where the locals resided weren't as great as he had thought. Most of the people were fast asleep inside tents and the only a few people seemed to live in real houses; but even those were in shambles. This surprised him. Hiccup knew for a fact that DunBroth was on the top of the list of places Vikings raided, so he assumed it would be more, what? Wealthy?

Hiccup held back a yelp as his foot made contact with a large, hard rock. He stumbled backwards, clutching it as it throbbed and fell backwards into a crate full of hay. The sharp ends felt like tiny pinches all over his body and he bit down tongue, holding back a groan.

_That's me, Guardian of Childhood. Dad would be so proud. _

Hiccup pulled himself out and stretched his back which had been curved in an uncomfortable angle. He suddenly missed Jack. Working alone was never something Hiccup enjoyed doing. Company was always appreciated in his eyes. Hiccup gasped as, out of nowhere, a sudden chill filled the air.

His mind went to Jack, maybe he forgot to tell him something. But Hiccup turned and stared into the hollow eyes of a shadow-creature.

He held his breath, anticipating an attack, but was surprised when the thing just blinked at him before fading away into darkness. Heart pounding, Hiccup decided to move before the thing decided to change its mind about attacking him.

_Okay, so Pitch's fiends are here. That probably means they went after Jack too. I gotta get close to Princess Merida, but how? Not like I can just walk casually into her castle. _

Hiccup sighed, running a hand through his hair. Staring at the moon, he had a strange feeling, as though it was watching him as well. He blinked, breaking out of those thoughts. Now was not the time to get delusional, he had to come up with a plan.

And by next morning, he did. A very,_ very_, stupid plan.

* * *

"Ah, can not believe yoo're still hostin' this dumb competition."

"Hush, Merida. Thaur was no reason tae cancel it. An' a princess does not say, 'dumb'.

Merida wanted to continue her argument, but had used up all of her oxygen already. Her body was currently constricted by a blue silk dress and her hair was tucked tightly into a white head covering. All in all, she wondered how she hadn't passed out already.

This dress was just screaming: _Beautiful but at the risk of stopping your blood circulation._

"But, Mom! Ah tauld ye, Ah dornt want tae get married. Dad says Ah dornt have too," she complained loudly, which was a mistake as the dress seemed to just squeeze tighter with every word. Merida wheezed dramatically and feigned choking by clutching her throat.

Elinor rolled her eyes. "Dornt be such a baby. Besides, th' clans hud awreddy arrived this morn, no sense in tellin' them they need tae go home."

Merida crossed her arms and turned away. But with the dress it looked awkward since her arms could barely reach each other and she had to wobble in order to turn. There was a knock on the door and a servant stepped inside.

"Th' competition is 'bout o begin, m'lady."

"Thenk ye, we'll be thaur soon."

She nodded and walked out. Elinor turned to her daughter, who still had her back turned.

"Merida," she spoke softly. "How dae ye kno' ye won't like th' sons?"

"Fur one thin', they've ne'er seen me befor' an' yit their gonna fight a challenge tae win mah hand!"

"That's how it goes, Ah explained it tae ye!"

"But it's not what Ah want! Ever 'hink about 'at?"

They glowered at each other. It was times like these that Merida saw the resemblance between her mother and her. She got almost all her features from her dad; curly red hair and blue eyes. But when it came down to arguing, she and Elinor seemed like twins. They both held the same sneer and narrowed eyes with scrunched up noses.

There was another knock on the door, demanding Elinor's attention.

Elinor called out to the servant, saying that she'll be right out before trying again to convince Merida. She sighed. "Merida...please. Jist go alang wit' it fur now. 'En we'll talk, okay?"

_Ay coorse Ah dornt want tae jist go alang wit' it!_ Merida wanted to shout.

But instead she said, "Alrigh'. Let's go before Ah die ay suffocation from this dress."

* * *

The competition commenced and if Merida was being honest, she couldn't recall half of it. After the first clan's son, Lord Macin-something, had embarrassingly missed a simple bulls-eye with his arrow, she zoned out. She thought about how long it would take for this clown show to be over. Is Angus fed? She should check it out. Would her mother notice if she slipped out for a moment?

Suddenly though, for the first time since this challenge had begun, something interesting happened.

A thin, frail looking boy stepped out from the crowd with something strange by his feet. He wore a dark green shirt underneath a very large yellow and black kilt that was painfully too large for him. The kilt stopped just above his feet and the top-portion was draped over his shoulder with a pin keeping it in place. Although it did not successfully keep the sleeve from slightly falling off his shoulder so Merida wondered what the point was.

By his feet was some sort of contraption. Composed of old-broken materials, it looked like a large square crate painted a sickish yellow color. The only thing that registered through Merida's head from it was the chipped, wooden bow attached at the very top.

"Who is 'at?" Elinor muttered to Fergus. "Ah didne see hem come in wi' th' other clans."

She glanced at Merida, who shrugged in response. Elinor rose from her seat and everyone went silent. With her head held high, she scrutinized the boy, who cringed under her piercing stare.

"State yer nam," she said.

The boy seemed to gather up some form of courage and bowed to the Queen before speaking.

"Y-Yar Highness," he said in a slightly trembling voice. Merida narrowed her eyes. His Scottish accent was very strange, almost forced. "Ah, am Hiccup of th' Breckenridge clan, a-and Ah am hare to win Princess Merida's hain in marriage."

The crowd exchanged looks while muttering towards one another. Sweat beaded down the boys face but he didn't break his eyes from the Queen.

Merida crossed her arms, smirking. _Things jist got interestin'._

Elinor and Fergus locked heads and began discussing. Merida brought herself closer to hear but her dad grabbed her face in his large hand and pushed her away. She frowned. After a minute, Elinor glared at Fergus for something he had apparently said and he leaned away with raised hands.

Elinor sighed and rolled her eyes. She then rose out of her seat again. There was silence.

"Th' rules clearly state 'at _aw_ willin' clans ur able tae participate," she said. "But ye stand haur alone, so may Ah ask, whaur is yer clan?"

Hiccup seemed to have an explanation ready at hand. Although, as he spoke, it sounded pretty rehearsed to Merida. It perked her interest more.

"Mah land was raided by those vile Vikings!" he cried, the drama in his words contradicting with his awkward stance and even more awkward voice. Merida wondered how he even made it to their land without getting attacked. "My faither an' Ah were tha last to survife, but we were ambushed. Ah managed to kill them awe! But at a price; mah faither. His lest words were his dyin' wish; 'at I find the worthy an' um, amazin' DunBroth clan an' fight fur the princesses hand."

"Listenin' tae yer parents wishes, that's a noble an' good quality in a man." Merida didn't miss how Elinor snuck her a glance. "An' th' fact ye managed tae overpower those _Vikings_-" Hiccup flinched at the way she spat out the word. Nobody paid attention to that though. "-is impressive. An' as Ah said, we can not turn down any clan."

Elinor paused before continuing. "Normally we require a fuw months notice ay yer arrival...the circumstances ay yer clans tragic death is an exception. Ye may proceed wi' th' competition."

Hiccup didn't move for a moment. He seemed too stunned to do anything. Merida laughed lightly, thoroughly enjoying watching this boy embarrass himself. She reached behind her chair, making sure her bow and arrow were still hidden from view.

_Ah dorn't care if he manages tae perf'rm a miracle an' make a shot, _she thought._ Nobody has a right tae make thes decision fur me. An' Ah intend tae make 'at fact known, _clearly.

"R-Right!" Hiccup declared with a hint of apprehension. "I shall naw begin!"

"Wow, an' Ah thooght he was jist gonna stan' thaur," Merida mumbled sarcastically. Fergus laughed under his breath.

Hiccup took a breath and position his contraption so that the bow that rested atop was aimed at the targets. He closed one eye and focused on where his arrow's tip was, moving it slightly from left to right until he seemed satisfied. His brows were furrowed in deep concentration.

Something in his expression grabbed Merida's attention.

There was a determination to his face and stance. His shoulders, which were previously slumped, were straight with purpose. His eyes now held a bright fire beneath the nervous green and his hands moved swiftly and naturally as he worked. It was obvious to her that working with mechanics was something he had an affinity too. To Merida, it reminded her of how she was whenever she would grip her bow, or shoot an arrow. It was natural to them. It was right.

She leaned forward, eyes focused on him.

Hiccup gripped a handle at the back of the machine that she now noticed was attached to some rope. He took a deep, slow breath and pulled, hard. Instantly, the arrow was pulled back in union with the rope and released from the bow. It whizzed through the air. Everyone held their breath, then released as the arrow met its target.

A bulls-eye.

Nothing happened at first. Then the crowd erupted into noise that sounded like a mix of gasps, grunts and cheers. Fergus jumped out of his seat and clapped his big, beefy hands. Elinor remained seated, as did Merida, both too shocked to move.

"Now 'at was an impressife shaw!" Fergus said, breaking his girls out of their trance.

Elinor cleared her throat and finally walked forward. Everyone went silent. As many times before, Merida couldn't help but be impressed with her mothers ability to only _look _at people and make them go still. She sure was some Queen.

"Hiccup ay th' Breckenridge clan," she spoke, "that was a well, interestin' display ay intelligence an' resoorcefulness."

"It was?" he replied dumbly. Merida arched a brow. He seemed genuinely shocked that anyone found his machine impressive. It made her wonder where he _really_ was from.

Elinor then went on a speech about how each clan had displayed a great effort, but the fact that they had two winners to this competition (Hiccup and that other blonde weirdo) meant that they would have to do yet another. She went on explaining how it would go. Merida though, paid no attention. As everyone gazed transfix at the Queens words, she quietly slipped out.

From behind her chair, she put on the hooded robe she had stashed and grabbed her bow and arrow. If the people thought Hiccup's performance was a shocker, then they haven't seen nothing yet.

* * *

Hiccup still couldn't believe it.

It worked. His dumb plan is actually working so far.

Not only was he relieved that his invention had worked, he felt something deep in his stomach at the Queens words that he had _never_ felt back at Berk. _A swell of pride_.

She had praised him so highly that the rest of her words were drowned out and he could only focus on that. She thought his invention was clever and even useful. At Berk, everyone had thought his works were nothing but burdens on them. Hiccup couldn't help but feel good about himself right now. After all, he had created this contraption in only a few hours after hearing what the competition was going to be. It had taken a while for him to salvage items and materials, including clothes for himself, but he managed.

Hiccup was proud of himself. Was that such a bad thing?

After all, he had only heard about the whole suitor-thing for the princess this morning from a gossiping couple passing by. He hadn't exactly had much time to figure out what he was going to do, but he did it. It was strange. Only a day ago did he felt like getting close to Princess Merida was an impossible mission. But now she was only a few feet away.

Speaking of which, his eyes couldn't help but trail over to where she sat, wondering what she thought of his performance.

Confusion and slight panic quickly replaced all the pride.

_Where'd she go?_ Hiccup wondered. _She was here, wasn't she? Oh no, what if I did something to annoy her? How am I gonna talk to her now?_

Suddenly, he noticed that all eyes were on him. Wait, no. Not on him, but on something behind him. Hiccup turned, and found someone standing with a bow and arrow at their feet. Their face was covered in a hooded robe and they raised a hand, pulling it off.

Gasps were heard all around.

The hooded figure was none other than Princess Merida herself.

"I am Merida!" she called out defiantly. "First born tae clan DunBroch! An' I will be shootin' fur mah own hand!"

_And I thought I had issues_, Hiccup thought, stunned at her risky actions. _Though it is cool._

"Merida!" He had completely forgotten about Queen Elinor, who stood appalled with a terrifying glare in her eyes. "What ur ye doin'?!"

Merida ignored her mother and slung her bow, readying herself. As she raised her arrow, something stopped her arms and Hiccup tried not to laugh. Her actions were impressive, but the thing now stopping her was a simple blue dress.

"This accursed frock!" Merida cried out in frustration.

She bent low before straightening out her entire body, large rips opening up like mouths in random places of the dress. Hiccup hoped it wasn't expensive, because there was no way they could return it now.

The next few moments happened so fast that it took all of Hiccup's focus just to keep up. Merida began shooting out her arrows. No, she wasn't just simply shooting. She was killing it! She hit every bulls-eye with easy movements and even managed to split Hiccup's arrow in half with her own. His jaw dropped in awe. Unfortunately, he seemed to be the only one impressed.

The crowd was too surprised or offended to do anything. But that was nothing compared to Queen Elinor's reaction. She kept calling out to Merida, demanding she stop, but of course that only seemed to motivate the princess more. Every arrow shot was like a slap in Elinor's face that said, _I won't stop and nothing you will say can make me!_

Finally, Merida was done. A satisfied expression crossed her face before she frowned and turned to stare up at the Queen, their faces only inches from each other.

If he thought her appearance in the competition was interesting, he was in complete shock when Merida suddenly ran away. Alone? Oh, no, she decided to drag someone along with her.

Hiccup had no time to react when he was lurched sideways, half running and half dragged by Merida, who held his arm in a vice-like grip. Not sure what to do, he picked up his pace to match hers. The only thing motivating him right now was his logical side telling him that, where ever they were going, it'd be a good place to talk.

* * *

Apparently, Merida had decided to take him to her room in the castle. Hiccup wanted to say something, when she forcibly pushed him through the door, closed it shut and spoke.

"Ye can drap th' fake accent now," Merida said in a forward manner.

Hiccup gulped and accidentally let out a nervous laugh. "I-I dan't knaw what ya meen, princess."

"Please dorn't lie tae me, after aw, Ah cood hav' yer head if Ah wanted tae." She laughed as his face dropped and went very pale. "Dorn't worry, A'm not '_at_ ruthless. Actually, A'm not mad 'at ye snuck intae th' kingdom."

"You're not?" Hiccup froze. "Shoot!"

"Ha! Ah knew ye weren't a Scott!" Merida began circling around him and Hiccup couldn't help but compare her piercing stare to the Queens. "If yoo're not from haur, oo are ye?"

"Well, um, my name really is Hiccup. The last name though, Breckenridge, I took it from a story I once read about some Scottish warrior. Um, princess-"

"Merida," she corrected him with narrowed eyes. If there was anything that pushed Merida's button, it was when people called her that.

"Sorry, Merida, if you don't mind me asking, I'm an intruder, why aren't you being more cautious around me? Or calling the guards or whatever?"

She snorted a chuckle, looking more un-princess-like by the second. "Guards? Please, Ah dorn't need protection. All Ah need is mah bow. An', no offense, ye dorn't exactly look 'ard tae take doon. Yoo're mair like a wee-lamb."

"Wah? I resent that!"

Merida glared mischievously and swiftly unsheathed the sword that sat resting against her bed. Before he could even blink, she aimed it at him.

"Whoa! Duh-okay! I'm sorry!" Hiccup raised his arms over his face, as if that could shield him from the sharp end of that sword. A few heartbeats later, Merida sighed and pulled down her weapon. She rolled her eyes.

"Yoo're an embarrassin' opponent tae have reit now, Hiccup." She slammed in onto the floor and leaned against the hilt. "Have some dignity at leest."

Hiccup couldn't help but smile, his face looking as though he was thinking of a fond memory. "You sound like Astrid."

"Who?"

"No one. So, are you willing to listen to what I have to say before you decapitate me?"

Merida crossed her arm, smirking. "Ah might."

He laughed shakily. "Well, I'm not your enemy, so don't worry about that. I'm actually here to, well, make you an offer."

"Offer? Whit kind o' offer?"

Hiccup glanced around nervously. "Ah, is there any place we can talk in private with no chance of being interrupted? It's kind of a long explanation."

Merida put a finger to her chin, thinking. She lit up. "Ah noo a place. We can tak' Angus."

"Sure hope you're not talking about cattle."

The sound of stomping feet echoed down the hall and Merida's breath caught. "Oh, no. Yoo'd better hide."

"From who?"

"Mah mother."

That was enough of an explanation for Hiccup. Just thinking about the way the Queen had looked at him before spiked fear in him. He looked frantically around for a spot to hide. Merida grabbed his shoulders and roughly shoved him down and under the bed. He complained loudly. "Shush! She's haur."

As she said this, the door swung open and Elinor stocked her way in. Merida had never been much afraid of her mother, instead always challenging her. But the expression on Elinor's face had her taking a few steps back. She moved until her back hit the tapestry that hung proudly on the wall, taking the sword with her for some reason. Maybe subconsciously she felt more protected with it.

"You will go downstairs an' apologize tae th' Clan Leaders, now!" Elinor shouted, the veins in her neck straining with her anger. "I've ne'er bin more disappointed in ye Merida!"

Merida should have apologized for running off, but if anything was ever difficult for her to do, it was saying _sorry_. "Mom, I-"

"I dorn't want tae hear it! Ye will do as Ah say an' go down thaur now!"

She wasn't listening, and this angered Merida very much. She returned her mothers glare with one of her own and took a step forward. They've fought many times before, but this particular one felt different somehow. The air between them wasn't just angry, it was furious, almost threatening.

"I told ye before, didn't Ah?" Merida retorted back. "I dornt want tae get married! Why should Ah, jist coz ye said so?!"

"Merida," Elinor's tone was slow and steady, as though she was doing her best to keep her patience in front of a little child, "yoo're a _princess_. Ye have duties an' obligations, not tae mention traditions tae follow. Do any ay those things mean anythin' tae ye?"

"No!" Merida exclaimed.

For just a split second, her mothers face turned hurt and she wanted to take her words back, but then Elinor hardened her expression. Her eyes turned stormy. "I'm sorry ye feel 'at way, but ye have no choice. Ah didn't have one, th' princesses before you didn't. Stop with 'is selfish attitude awreddy, Merida, an' grow up."

Her mothers words cut through Merida and she had to blink back tears. Her mouth began to speak words she didn't think she'd ever say. "Tradition an' bein' Queen? That's aw ye care about! Am still yer daughter! Doesn't 'at mean anything tae ye?!"

"This isn't about ye bein' mah daughter or not! It's about takin' responsibility fur somethin' ye were born tae do, an' that's rule a kingdom! A future Queen needs a suitur if she wishes tae rule, Merida!"

"I dorn't care about bein' Queen!" Merida began to act on impulse and she raised her sword towards the tapestry. Her mother had woven it with her own two hands for Merida and, before, it had been something beautiful. Now all it did was bring disgust to Merida's stomach. "I'm ne'er gonna to be like ye! Ah dorn't _want _tae be like ye!"

Merida slashed the sword down on the tapestry. The sound of tearing fabric went across the room and back, lingering in the air. The image of her mother and her was now torn, separating the two, as if illustrating Merida's words.

For a moment, nothing could be heard but Merida's heavy breathing.

Then, her mothers face exploded into rage. She grabbed Merida, ripping her bow right from her back. Merida's breath hitched. She felt naked without her bow, as though her mother had taken a limb rather than a weapon. Her mother walked over to the fireplace.

Normally, the fire that burned bright was comforting. It's warmth would spread through Merida, calming her. It also reminded her of her hair and she couldn't help but think she had a special connection to the element. But now, she's never been more terrified of fire.

"What're ye doin'?!" she shouted.

"You need tae adopt a proper attitude an' this-" Elinor stared at the bow with disdain. "-will be th' first step!"

Elinor threw the bow into the fire.

"No!" Merida covered her mouth in horror. Her mother stared back at her with cold eyes. Tears clouded Merida's vision and, this time, she didn't hesitate to let them fall. Merida shook her head, as though _she_ was the one disappointed and ran out of the door, her sobs following close behind her.

* * *

Hiccup was stunned, still hiding under the bed.

He was in shock for two reasons of course. One: the exchange he had just heard between the Queen and her daughter was intense and heartbreaking. It actually brought Hiccup's mind back to his own dad. The second reason: Merida had seemed to completely forget that he was under her bed. That meant he had to wait for the Queen to leave the room before sneaking out of the castle.

Hiccup was slightly ashamed of this, but his curiously got the best of him, and he snuck a peek at what the Queen was doing. His eyes widened at the sight.

Apparently, almost as soon as Merida left, Elinor had pulled the bow right out of the fire. She knelled beside the charred weapon, quietly sobbing into her hands. He almost wanted to go comfort her, but reminded himself that she had also said some pretty harsh things to Merida.

Elinor jumped when someone knocked on the door. "M'Lady? I'm sorry to bother you, but King Fergus is asking for you."

She cleared her throat a few times, shook her head and wiped her face with her hands. Almost instantly, all tracing of her previous breakdown was gone. Hiccup couldn't help but be impressed. She truly was a Queen of high standard.

Elinor rose and he retreated back, hiding from sight. She left the room and Hiccup waited just one more minute before crawling out and sprinting out the door.

He made his way down the narrow hallways and stairs that seemed more like a labyrinth than a home. The architectural structure of this castle fascinated him no doubt, but he had no time to be amazed. He had to find Merida.

Torches illuminated his path and sent shadows racing across his vision. Hiccup couldn't help but think of the shadow-creatures he'd face before at Berk.

_Hopefully she didn't get too far_, he thought._ If anyone finds me here and figures out I'm not really a Scott, well...it was nice living so far. _

_Sort of._

* * *

**If anyone has any trouble understanding a sentence, just message me and I'll explain what's going on. But I think, or at least I hope, I did a pretty good job with the dialects. **

**Don't forget to review! :D**


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